Hello from Day 1 of the 2008 North Carolina Science Blogging Conference! I just had a late lunch at the hotel restaurant with Dave, Bora, and some other conference participants. As we were walking into the restaurant, and past a large and colorful buffet table, NC-native Dave says to me, “Yeah, people from North Carolina are really into buffets.” Really?

Well, I’ve been looking around the web for any kind of evidence to support this hypothesis, and I can’t find any. Vegas, of course, is known for buffets. But where else? Data, anyone? Where’s the state-by-state buffet breakdown?

A site called “Traveling Bikers” on TravelingUSA has one, but with only a handful of listings for each state, it’s certainly not exhaustive. They list four in North Carolina, not many more or less than the other states.

I’ll let you know if I see any more buffets. And if you know anything, by all means leave a comment. With enough confirmation from other NC natives, I’d probably take Dave’s word.

Of course, stay tuned to 3.14 for more conference happenings throughout the weekend.